They will be Dignifiedly Repatriated

Like many of the files that it helped to solve radically, the Russian Federation this time contributed to the opening of the file of refugees and the beginning of its solution, and advancign creative solutions aimed at accelerating the political solution in Syria, and provision of the premises of this solution through concrete actions.

This reaffirms again its congruence with the views of the Syrian people through a further step towards normalizing the situation in the country, after the severe blows that it has directed to the forces of terrorism and after the series of truces and reconciliations that it sponsored and proved their effectiveness.

This initiative is important in several aspects:

• Serving the general path of the political solution in the country. Repatriation of population to their areas of residence, in parallel with the decline in armed action, is one of the most important concrete indicators of moving ahead towards the solution. In this context, it is also an indication of the importance and role of the experience of the De-escalation Zones and the Astana process.

• Leading this huge mass of population out of the ring of extortion, bargaining and trading, which has long been resorted to by many parties.

• It is considered a concrete response to the so-called "demographic change" and the broad propaganda campaign in which many forces were involved, a response that attempt to restore things to its normal course.

The introduction of this initiative in conjunction with the international efforts to form the Constitutional Reform Committee is gaining profound insights and meanings regarding the legitimate right of the Syrians to contribute to this process. It is not permitted to amend the constitution or write a new constitution without the contribution of millions of Syrians, and the subsequent electoral processes, that have the potential to mitigate the risk of foreign influence as the majority of refugees return.

There is no doubt that one of the most important conditions for the success of this initiative is to secure the necessary infrastructure, adequate housing, and a minimum decent standard of living, so that these areas will be a successful and attractive model, and a locomotive for the return of all refugees. This process is necessary to be carried out on a voluntary basis, to ensure the safety of returnees and to guarantee their rights in full.

This is a matter of great national importance, not only in the general political sense, but in the sense of the return of skilled and expert Syrian labour, the return of scientific and academic talents and the younger generation, in an attempt to correct the deadly imbalance, both qualitatively and quantitively, in the Syrian demographic construction that took place during the hard years of crisis, especially that the country faces a major challenge, namely: the reconstruction process.

The importance of this qualitative step taken by the Russian ally, along with a series of its other initiatives, political, diplomatic and military efforts, and its attempt to push other countries to participate in the reconstruction process, in conjunction with the return of the refugees. With the importance of all of this, the full achievement of the solution to the Syrian crisis has been, and will continue to be, through the implementation of all the provisions of UNSCR 2254 (which includes the safe and voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons to their original areas of residence), which is the only road map out of the crisis.

Kassioun Editorial, Issue No. 871, July 23, 2018